Gorgeous hike! One of my favorite in the area. Beautiful views on the way up and down. Break in walking through the woods from time to time, you come out in a pretty little field with wild flowers. Streams and lots of wild life.

And of course, Blue Lake is just absolutely stunning. All the photos posted do not do it any justice. It's also absolutely freezing, lol. You gotta jump in though, it's almost a right of passage. Don't jump in the deep end though! Even in mid summer you can get hypothermia.

Advice: This hike also connects to a climbers hike, so the parking lot gets filled with climbers that sleep in their cars overnight, so the parking is dicey. Go early in the morning. It will still be tough to find parking, but better than mid day.

We went after Labor Day, so the park was no where near as full as it is during the peak in Summer. Just a gorgeous spot to pitch up a tent. Beautiful view of the water, the Dam, the Mountains. The park and facilities are so well maintained!

Dam is only a 15 min car ride away and there is a laser light show every night during the season.

Only issue is people. You never know if you will end up surrounded by a good bunch of campers, or rowdy people that don't adhere to camp quite times. Luck of the draw.

It's 3.5 miles one way, with a 2000ft elevation gain. So you are climbing up the entire time. Bring plenty of water and start early in the morning. As you want to be heading back down before high noon when the bugs come out. Your basically just doing switchbacks up the side of the mountain the entire time.

I honestly liked the Sheep Lake/Sour Dough Gap hike better. Which is on the other side of the mountain. You start at a higher altitude, so the elevation gain isn't as rough. You can stop at Sheep Lake, or, if your fit enough, climb up and threw Sour Dough Gap and get a great view of Crystal Lake. So you have the option of doing an easier or harder hike.

Also, though Sheep Lake isn't as big as Crystal Lake. The water is moving through it more quickly, so not as much standing water. Crystal Lake had WAY more bugs.

You also get a great view of Mount Rainier over Crystal Lake from the Sour Dough Gap hike. This home, the Mountis to your back, and covered by trees except for one small spot.